Lawn Establishment in Kentucky

A.J. Powell Jr.

The methods you use and the grasses you select when
you start your lawn will, to a great extent, determine the quality
and ease of maintenance. A quality lawn will increase the value
and appeal of your property, and maintaining it can be very
satisfying work.

Both coolseason and warmseason grasses can be grown
in Kentucky, although most of the state is not ideally suited to
either one. Because of temperature extremes in summer and
winter, developing a really good lawn may be a big challenge.
Proper establishment and management techniques may differ
considerably from those used in surrounding states. Still, if you
know these local problems and establish your lawn correctly, a
good lawn is possible and should not be expensive to maintain.

Which Grass Should You Select?

Although we have many high-quality Kentucky
bluegrass lawns, tall fescue is the best adapted grass for Kentucky.
Problem lawns with shade, poor soil, or heavy traffic and
Western Kentucky lawns should almost always be established with
tall fescue. Fine (red) fescue and perennial ryegrass also have
some limited uses in lawns.

Lawns can also be established with warm-season grasses
such as bermudagrass or zoysiagrass. Although these grasses
remain dormant (brown) for six to seven months every year, they
are drought and pest tolerant.

More information on varieties and grass selection can be obtained from your
local county Extension agent. Ask for a copy of Cooperative Extension publication
Selecting the Right Grass for Your Kentucky Lawn (AGR-52).

When to Establish Your Lawn

Don't make the mistake of establishing your lawn at the
wrong time. Only certain periods each year have favorable
temperature, moisture, and minimum competition from weeds.

The best time to seed Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, or perennial ryegrass is
from midAugust to late September. The second best time is from mid-February
to mid-March and not later than mid-April. Due to competition from weeds and
moisture stress, seedings made from late spring to midsummer seldom are successful.

Sod of Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue can be
installed almost anytime. However, during extremely hot and dry
summers, it is best to delay sodding until the weather improves.

The improved strains of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass
should be established during May or June, after the soil is warm.

How to Prepare Your Soil

Never underestimate the importance of soil preparation.
Consider the following:

Grading

Soil conditions are very poor on many lawn sites because
the lawn was not a major consideration when construction
began. Ideally, the topsoil should be stockpiled to the corner of the
lot when initial grading is done so it will not be destroyed or
covered by the foundation or basement subsoil.

After the house is finished, the building debris should be removed from the
entire lawn area, and the subgrade should be sloped away from the house to reduce
the possibility of water entering the basement. After the subgrade has been
established, the stockpiled topsoil can be respread over the entire lawn. With
4-6 inches of good topsoil, establishing and maintaining your lawn can be a
pleasure rather than a nightmare.

Soil Improvements

What if topsoil is not available? Buying topsoil is not
usually recommended, for two reasons:

It is very difficult to purchase good topsoil. Frequently, you get heavy
clay or rocky soil, and often it is seriously infested with weed seed.

Well-adapted species such as tall fescue may be grown on the most difficult
soils. In fact, an excellent tall fescue turf can be maintained on heavy clay
or sandy soils if the lawn can be irrigated during periods of summer drought.

Adding large quantities of organic matter is the best method for improving
a poor soil. Peat moss; well-decomposed sawdust; well-rotted, weed-free manure;
and sewage sludge or any organic compost will improve soil that is either too
sandy or contains too much clay. Use 2-3 cubic yards of organic matter for each
1,000 square feet of lawn area. Spread it evenly over the surface, and before
seeding, thoroughly rototill or disk it into the upper 4-6 inches of soil.

If a soil test cannot be made, you should apply approximately 80 pounds of
ground limestone per 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Also apply one of the following
fertilizers: 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet of 5-10-5, 25 pounds per 1,000
square feet of 10-10-10, or 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet of 5-20-20. Work
all lime and fertilizer into the top 4-6 inches of soil before seeding.

Final Soil Preparation

A newly graded lawn should be allowed to settle before
planting. Two or three good rains or irrigations will help the
settling. Puddles of water that form during a rain or irrigation
indicate low spots that should be filled or drained prior to planting.
Good surface drainage is a must!

The final seedbed should be firm and free of large
clods, rocks, and discarded building materials.

Seedbed preparation is similar regardless of which
planting method is used on a new lawn.

Seed or Sod?

Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue lawns are either
seeded or sodded.

Should you seed or sod? Initially, seeding a lawn is less
expensive, but getting an established lawn may take a month
or longer with seed than it does with sod. Also, the risk of
serious erosion is minimized with sod.

In addition, when you use quality seed or quality sod,
you have little chance of introducing troublesome weeds.
Even though many weed seeds are already present in your soil,
quality sod will impede growth of these weeds.

Finally, a sodded lawn is immediately attractive and
somewhat serviceable. Mud is not tracked into the home,
sidewalks can be kept clean, and it is easy to maintain other newly
planted landscape plants.

How to Seed

Seeding is usually done with a rotary seeder or the usual droptype seed
and fertilizer spreader. To determine the proper seeding rates, ask for a
copy of Cooperative Extension publication Selecting the Right Grass for
Your Kentucky Lawn (AGR-52).

For uniform distribution, divide the seed into two equal lots. The second
lot should be seeded at right angles to the first.

Cover the seed by raking lightly or rolling with a water-ballast roller.

Mulch the area with clean straw or other suitable material. The mulch covering
should be thin enough to expose about 50 percent of the soil surface, which
means using about one bale of straw per 1,000 square feet of area.

Water frequently, especially if you do not use a mulch. Keep the soil surface
moist until the seedlings become established.

How to Install Sod

Installing sod is an art. The better the sod quality, the
easier it is to transport and install. Quality sod is light, does not
tear apart easily, and generates a root system quickly. Before
ordering or obtaining sod, be sure you are prepared to install it.
Sod is perishable and should not remain on the pallet or stack
longer than 36 hours.

To install sod:

Inspect the sod carefully. If you see mildew or distinct yellowing of the
leaves, its quality is already diminished.

Make a line lengthwise through your lawn.

Lay the sod on either side of the line with the ends staggered, as when
laying bricks.

Use a sharpened concrete trowel or shovel to cut pieces and to tightly
force the sod into place. You can also use the trowel or shovel to level small
depressions.

Immediately after the sod is laid, you may use a water ballast roller to
increase sod-soil contact.

After an area of the lawn has been completed, irrigate the sod and surface
soil to the saturation point. Then, keep the sod moist until it is well rooted
in the underlying soil.

Sprigging or Plugging

Improved strains of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are
usually planted from existing vegetative materialeither sod,
sprigs, or plugs. Vegetative planting using sprigs is the common
method for establishing high quality bermudagrass. Zoysiagrass is
most frequently plugged. The plugs are approximately 2 inches
in diameter, with 2 inches of soil.

Sprigs are live plant stems, usually 1 to 4 inches long.
One bushel of sprigs is approximately equal to 1 square yard of
sod. You can buy sprigs by the bushel or buy sod and then shred
the sod into sprigs with a soil shredder or tear the sod apart by hand.

Planting sprigs

Either broadcast sprigs over the lawn and cover them lightly with soil or
plant (press) them individually into the soil on 6-to-12 inch centers. Properly
planted, an individual sprig should have one end about 2 inches below the
soil surface and the other end above the soil surface so that a node or joint
with some leaves extends above ground.

Keep the soil wet until they are well established.

Planting plugs

Fit plugs tightly into prepared holes. These holes can be made with a zoysia
pluggera sharp tube that can extract a soil core that is the same size
as the zoysia plug. In order to force the tube into the soil, good soil moisture
is required.

Tamp plugs firmly into place by stepping on each one.

Keep plugs moist until they are well established.

Caring for New Lawns

Moisture is probably the most important consideration
immediately after planting. Regardless of which
establishment method you use, keep the soil moist for two to three weeks.

Don't be afraid to mow a new lawn. After the turf begins to grow, mow at recommended
heights: 2 to 2½ inches for bluegrass and fescue and about ¾ inch
for bermudagrass and zoysiagrass. By mowing early and not letting excessive
grass accumulate, the texture will be finer, many upright weeds will be killed,
the turf will become more dense, and lateral spread will increase.